


Slipped Like Hair Through Your Fingers

by striderbuns



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Other, rlly old, sad??, set after episode 70, this was an accident
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-19
Updated: 2016-03-19
Packaged: 2018-05-27 18:48:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6295681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/striderbuns/pseuds/striderbuns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>an old fic i wrote when i first entered the fandom-<br/>i was being a dumbass and skipped around instead of listening to all of the episodes<br/>so i had no idea about any of the little details</p><p>basically carlos' team is investigating the house that doesn't exist and things go downhill</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slipped Like Hair Through Your Fingers

  
"Goodnight, Night Vale, goodnight~" Cecil Palmer intoned his usual sign-off. 

He put his headset away and cleaned up the papers from his desk. Once everything was neat and tidy, Cecil left the studio, stopping only to pet the station cat, Koshekh, on the way out.

The tall blonde man sighed, another slow day at work; not much had happened since Carlos came back for him...

Carlos.   
His Carlos returned for him.  
Here to stay... in Night Vale.

Cecil smiled to himself and breathed another heavy, dreamy sigh. 

When he returned to their shared home, he found Carlos wasn't home yet. The only people thet were home were the agent from the Vague, Yet Menacing Government Agency, disguised as a piece of furniture, and the faceless old woman who secretly lives in their home; he made a point not to notice either of them.

Cecil sat down on the couch after eyeing a note on the coffee table. 

"Cecil,  
I might be a little late coming back home tonight, but dont worry, babe. Me and the other scientists are doing still more tests on the   
house that doesnt exist- the one that would make sense if it did exist, because it's right between two identical houses.  
Xoxo  
~Carlos  
Ps. I wanted to go out to Arby's again tonight. What do you think?"

Memories of Carlos' first year anniversary of being in Night Vale came flooding back to him.  
Carlos- his Carlos- bravely went where no-one else would: the city under lane 5 of the Bowling Alley and Arcade Fun Place.   
In this adventure, he discovered the city was actually very small-- toy scaled, if you will. 

Also he almost got himself killed. If it weren't for the Apache Tracker- that guy with the stereotypical Native American head-dress- Carlos wouldn't be living, breathing. 

That night, once Carlos' wounds were taken care of, they met up at the Arby's, where they watched the lights above together. 

Cecil sighed fondly again. He would very much like to go to the Arby's. He found the lights mysterious, yet romantic.   
Cecil's really big into romantic things.

Cecil decided to tidy up the house before Carlos got home. 

Humming to himself, he cleaned up what little clutter there was in the home.   
Mostly just cobwebs and discarded beakers and crumpled up bits of notebook paper. 

-Across town-

Carlos looked down at his clipboard and sighed.   
Some of the scientists have been up on the porch before!   
They've even knocked and saw inside for god's sake!   
Why were they so tentative now?

"Do you think we should-?" one of Carlos' colleagues trailed off. 

Carlos nodded agressively.   
The other scientist stood up from the group's perch behind a bush and approached the porch. 

He knocked on the door...

silence

He knocked again. A brief pause and an elderly woman opened the door. 

"You folks again?" she croaked

"Uhm...Ma'am, we were wondering if we could come inside..?" the young scientist said politely. 

The woman perked up a little, as if she hadnt had any company in the nineteen yers she had lived there. But then she eyed them suspiciously, "What for?"

"We mean no harm, ma'am. We're just intrigued by the lovely house you've got here."

Carlos felt a surge of pride for his colleague. 

The other scientists (including the first and Carlos, there are four total) got up and approached the step, looking hopeful. The woman's face softened and she consented, letting them all inside.

"Would you boys like a drink? Tea? Coffee?"

They all shook their heads. She shrugged and invited them to sit on the couch. 

All four looked around. 

"Ma'am," Carlos spoke up," Would you mind giving the grand tour?"

-back at the house with Cecil-

Cecil had finished cleaning. He plopped into the couch again with a satisfied smile and pulled out a book to pass the time.

After a couple chapters, he checked the time. 5:00. Normally, one of them would have started cooking supper, or they would be preparing to leave to eat at the Ralphs. 

Cecil checked his phone. No messages. 

-with Carlos-

"And what's in the back yard?" Carlos scratched his chin, the scruffy hair made a noise against his nails. 

"Uhm... You might not want to go back there, dear." she glanced to the side, desperate to change the subject, "Would you boys like something to eat? Drink?" 

They all shook their heads politely again.   
Carlos looked out the window of the door into the back yard. There was an eerie shadow punctuating the grass.   
It seeped underneath the blades of green like a puddle of dark water. 

"I would like to see what that thing is." He addressed the woman. 

She didnt protest, but nodded after a minute of hesitation. 

He stepped out into the hot day again. He could feel the eyes of everyone else watching him intensely from the safety of inside. 

He approached the blackness. The inky depths seemed to peer up at him.   
He could not make heads or tails- quite literally- of this thing. 

He knelt down beside it to examine it closer, when he heard a soft noise, similar to the wingbeat of a dragonfly, followed by muffled, panicked yelling. 

He turned his head back to see wht the fuss was about when he saw a flash of black and a sharp pain in his chest. 

He looked down at the shadow. The black mass slunk away from him, almost as if it were annoyed with his presence. 

He stood up, but stumbled, suddenly feeling light-headed

"Carlos!" the youngest scientist came running out to him. 

"Call Cecil. The heart..." he said to the others as he rushed to Carlos' aid. 

"What happened?" Carlos coughed into his hand. He noticed blood. Blood all over his hand and the front of his shirt. 

"That thing... it.." he faltered, Carlos guessed what had happened.

"Cecil? Yes, I'm one of Carlos' co-workers." he heard a voice say. 

"Yes, he would like to speak with you." Carlos was handed the phone. 

"Carlos? What's the matter? Where's your phone?" Cecil's voice rang through the reciever. 

"Cecil... babe... I- I'm not going to make it home for dinner."

"What's wrong? Carlos?"

"Something's happened... I... I love you. Cecil.."

"Carlos? Carlos?! Im coming! Stay right there!"

"Cecil..."

\---

 

Cecil rushed outside after asking the woman where his Carlos was.  
He faltered at the sight of the blood, and the sight of Carlos- his Carlos, laying in it...

The others moved out of his way, acknowleging him grimly. 

"Carlos...! Carlos, I'm here." Cecil pulled the injured man into his lap gingerly. 

Cecil stroked his hair, tears sliding down his face. 

Carlos smiled weakly and stared up at him. "Cecil.." he sighed.

"Yeah.." The blonde sobbed. 

Carlos stared into his eyes; green clashed with violet, and gave a sigh. 

"Carlos.." he continued brushing Carlos' hair and wiping his tears. 

There was no reply. 

Carlos moved no more. 


End file.
